I just have to share my news here: I sold my romance novel, The Tom Jones Club, to the mainstream romance line of SirenBookstrand, to be released this November. Yes! Okay, so what’s the Tom Jones Club? It’s really the backdrop for a Vegas romance between Lucky and Eric, but I have to tell you a bit more about Tom Jones.
Fast forward to about twelve years ago when hubby and I flew to Las Vegas from San Francisco just to see Tom Jones perform onstage. I’d see so many of the big-name performers over the years – Elvis, Sinatra, Engelbert, Sammy, Liberace (lol) – so we took the opportunity to see one of the classics together. And Tom didn’t disappoint.
Oh, sure, over the years, we’d heard the stories about the women throwing their underwear onstage and there was some of that, but what made an impression were the well-maintained “older” women in the first couple of rows who were obviously adoring fans. And those women made their way into my book. It was only later I became aware of a real “Tom Jones Club.” In fact, they were in Vegas last January.
The other story about this book is that I started writing it three years ago. It started out more as a chick lit and had several titles. When that obviously wasn’t selling, I fleshed it out a bit and turned it into a women’s fiction novel. When there was no interest in that, I decided to try my hand at writing a romance and rewrote it in third person, something I swore I would never do. And that’s when it sold. lol!
But it was one of those stories that stuck with me and I couldn’t let it sit on my computer – I was determined to find a publisher for it. Actually, Lucky (the heroine) insisted and she wouldn’t stop talking to me until I did.
Screamie Birds Studios 
I mean – why didn't I think of that? š
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Great story, Carine! Now why did I think of doing that? lol!
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Kathy, I never told you a story! Here's about the first time I saw him in person: He had his first tv show and I sent a letter asking for tix. A year later, I came back from 6th grade science camp-my girlfriend was over (she was waiting for her parents)and I went into my room and found an envelope from ABC-TV! You could have heard the screaming a mile away! My girlfriend and I were so excited!My sister was too young to go, so my mom took us and another girlfriend to the taping. We stood in line what seemed like forever.Finally we got in-he was going to be taping 3 shows of his “concert” part of the show. My mom said we had to leave at a certain time-I had the only watch, so I deliberately turned it back! I figured it was worth the scolding.My dad and sister were waiting for us outside-one of the guards told my dad just to take and go in and they joined us.It was so great-plus, even when he was through, he said we were so nice to him, he was going to sing a few more songs just for the audience.It was quite the night for all of us.
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Thanks, Misty! Yeah, he's closer to my mother's age than mine, but that didn't stop me from swooning over either him (Elvis, too). lol! And you sound like the character, Copper, in the book, but in her case, it's her grandmother who's wild about him. Love how Tom Jones keeps women young…
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Hi Kathy. Congrats on your sale! Tom's a bit before my generation, but I have an aunt who's nuts about him. She's in the underwear throwing group and turns into a totally different person when talking about him. LOL.
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Thanks, Diane! I see you're now in my old stomping grounds. But Vegas is just another suburb of SoCal – lol – and I love staying connected with you all cuz you really get it. š
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Kathy,When it comes to Tom Jones, what's not to love? Congrats on the sale. I'm looking forward to reading your book!-Diane
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